Homily for 18 Apr 2019 Holy Thursday

18 Apr 2019

Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper

He “came not to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” [Mt 20:28].  And this is what we celebrate and memorialize these next three days: what Jesus Christ has done—and is doing—for us.  And in celebrating these sacred days, hopefully, we’ll come to a still deeper appreciation of exactly who our Divine Friend, Spouse, Lover, and Servant is. 

There are perhaps two ways we can know about him.  One is to try to focus on who he is in himself.  In that case, we’d look at the Holy Trinity, and the indescribable love and life there exists between Father and Son within the Holy Spirit.  We try to understand our God apart from his relationship to us humans and all creation.

The other way, though, to know about our God is by way of what he does for us.  And this is what we focus on these three days: knowing, appreciating, and loving our God through the fact that he came to us, for us and for our good.  We celebrate our God as Savior; we celebrate Jesus living up to his name.

God saves us—but not from “on high.”  He saves us by coming down to us.  And not only does he look at us at eye level—one human to another; he goes lower and kneels at our feet, as a servant.  God saves us from down there, on his knees.  And he does it willingly, happily, and with great affection and charity.  Jesus loves being a servant for us.

The difficulty, though, is in letting him be that for us.  You know, one of the more challenging preparations for the Holy Triduum is in getting volunteers who are okay getting their feet washed.  Even right now, I’m sure many of us are feeling our feet all snug in our shoes...and they’re just fine where they are...yes? 

For us in the 21^st Century, the idea of taking off our shoes to let somebody else wash them is outside our realm of experience.  It’s a strange idea.  And so we take to it too quickly.  But there could be other reasons, too.  Maybe our feet are “ugly;” you know, toe nails that only a podiatrist could love, cracks, bunions, corns.  Maybe they’re smelly.  Maybe there’s a raging case of athlete’s foot, or some other fungus, or blisters.  Who knows.... 

But our feet—and how we do or don’t let others wash them—can be an analogy for our soul, and how much we do or do not let the Lord touch us and wash us.  Our soul can be like our feet; it can be “ugly” with so many of our sins.  It can be “infected” by unwanted growths—you know, things like hatred or jealousy, envy, judgmentalism, and so on.  Or maybe our soul is just cracked and bruised and it hurts to have anybody touch it—even God (we imagine).

We can be embarrassed to take off whatever “shoes” we wear over our soul.  We can be embarrassed to let Jesus see our soul; to see it, to touch it, to smell it.  “That’s not a place for a King, anyway,” we might think.  “Jesus is too pure, he’s too good, he deserves more than what my soul can give him,” we might say to ourselves.

But that’s all wrong.  We might be embarrassed to show Jesus what’s inside, but that’s precisely what he wants us to share with him.  He cannot serve us and do his wonderful things for us if we don’t let him.  A servant can only be a servant if there’s another who’s willing to be served. 

And so, Jesus serves us, he helps us not only by “washing our feet,” but more fundamentally by encouraging us to let down our guard, in order to let him in.  He’s there for us, showing us that it’s okay to “be not afraid” of him and his love.  That’s a very great thing Jesus does...for us.  He helps us to be free and unafraid.

But, if you notice, in doing that, Jesus also helps us and invites us to share in what he is doing.  Jesus is free.  Jesus is unafraid.  He is totally open and honest with us (that’s why he calls us “friends”).  And by helping us to be free, and unafraid, and honest, we begin to live and to do what he’s already doing.

And this is a reason why he told the Apostles—after he’d washed their feet—to go and do the same.  Jesus gave them an example, and then he said, “Imitate me, be me to others, do what I am doing, and your life and mine will be one.  You will live in me, and I will live in you.”

On this Holy Thursday, we focus especially on the Eucharist.  And, in that, Jesus also gives us an example to follow and to imitate.  He promised himself at the Last Supper, and he gave himself—definitively—on the Cross, in love for us.  He didn’t give a loaf of bread; he didn’t share a cup.  He gave himself.  He poured out himself.  And he says, “Do this in memory of me.”

And we certainly “do this” through our Eucharistic rituals.  We come here to the Altar of God to give ourselves to him; we give our time, our attention, our affection, our trust, our hope, our thanks.  And we pour out ourselves here at the Altar in prayer and devotion, adoration and love of all that’s good, true, and beautiful.  When our own self-gift meets God’s self-gift here at the Altar, we have the start of something wonderful; we begin to encounter within our soul and body the life we’re made to be a part of.

And we continue living that life outside these walls; a life of charity and goodwill, a life of speaking the truth, a life of faith and hope.  In short, we participate in the life of Jesus.  “I walk with him, and he walks with me; I am the feet, and the hands, and the voice of the One who loves me, who lives within me.”

Jesus serves us by giving us an example to follow.  He gives us a life to imitate, and that life just happens to be his.  But his life is so important to us, because it is the Way, the Truth, and the Life—the only one.  It’s like stepping on an elevator to go up to the next level.  The life and the example of Jesus is the elevator.  And we “get on board” by imitating him, as best we can...with his help.

Without Jesus as our Servant, we can’t get anywhere.  Our soul remains shut off.  Our shoes remain firmly tied up.  And our ability to love and be loved is limited.  Our ability to really live is stunted.  Thankfully, Jesus is there—Jesus is here, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity—for us, ready and begging to be our Servant.  But will we—will you--let him get on his knees to help you?  Will you let him be the Bread of Life and the Chalice of Salvation, to eat and drink, to breathe and to live?